LIGHTNING NOTES
Tampa Bay dropped their second straight game to start December, losing 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice. Brandon Hagel (2G) and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning in the loss, while Jonas Johansson turned aside 27 of 31 shots faced.
Hagel’s two goal frame marked his eighth multi-goal period for the Lightning, the seventh most in the franchise’s history. Hagel also has five multi-goal games this season, tying him with Montreal’s Cole Caufield for the second most this season and behind only Nathan MacKinnon (7).
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (day-to-day) was not in the lineup on Thursday night. Tampa Bay Head Coach Jon Cooper expects him to play against the Islanders.
Jonas Johansson started on Thursday night for the Lightning, making 27 saves in the loss. That was the eighth game Johansson has started and the ninth he has played this season. He is 5-3-0 with a 3.06 GAA and .892 SV% in that stretch.
The Lightning and defenseman Ryan McDonagh agreed on a three-year extension on Thursday. McDonagh (undisclosed) has been on IR and played in 15 games this season. He has totaled six points (3G, 3A).
Tampa Bay owns the top penalty kill percentage in the NHL at 87.4%, though they allowed a pair pf power-play goals in Thursday’s loss to the Pens.
On the power play, the Lightning rank 24th in the NHL (16.3%).
The Lightning are one of the top teams when they are in front this season. They stormed on to win 10 games when leading after the first period, only behind the Capitals (12) in the NHL.
Tampa Bay is 8-6-0 on home ice, including 4-1-0 in their last five.
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